Do you suppose that giving a dish a long-winded description somehow affords it more legitimacy or even desirability? Eggo Waffles with Mrs Butterworth’s Maple-Flavored Corn Syrup is certainly long, but plainly…fuggedaboudid.

For tonight’s late night dinner, I bought some sort of healthy green ramen noodles in the Asian food section of Berkeley Bowl, touted as super nutritious, etc. I’d had them once before and they are, presumably, a step above the cheapo ramen you can get 3/$1.

I started by poaching a chicken thigh in water with celery and green onions and a bay leaf with a bit of salt and pepper. During the 15 minutes or so it took to poach, I took some baby zucchini and shaved it with a vegetable peeler and sliced some Bok Choy thinly.

When the chicken was done, I strained the broth out and used it as the base to cook the noodles in, adding a tablespoon or so of white miso paste for the broth base (white miso is touted as being significantly lower in sodium than other types). I then sliced the chicken, added the shaved veggies, and served it up with a tiny quail egg that cooked in the warm broth.

OK, as ramen goes, it wasn’t handmade noodles, nor was the broth based on a 24-hour roasting and cooking process starting with sustainably raised pork bones, pork belly, and organic vegetables reduced to a deliciously, thick soup base.

I can say that it was better than the powdered soup base you might find in any cheapass ramen packet, and less salty.